jimlssi

Thanks Mike.....will do. Wish I could do the same with their house wines. I would pay a surcharge to get something better than the "house plonk"

Jim

Thanks Mike.....will do

Jim

We are on the Independence next month for 2 weeks btb, Baltimore r/t, then Baltimore to Charleston. Since the Independence does not have onboard laundry service, I asked my TA to inquire of ACL. She was told that the cruise director would arrange for a shore based laundry service midway (I assume Baltimore) through the 2 weeks. Anyone have experience with this arrangement? Or should I be scouting around the Baltimore inner harbor area for a self service laundrymat?

Thanks

We are on the Independence for 2 weeks btb next month, Baltimore r/t, then Baltimore to Charleston. Since there is no onboard laundry service, I asked my TA to inquire of ACL. She was told that the cruise director would arrange for a shore based laundry service midway ( I assume Baltimore) through the 2 weeks. Anyone had experience with this arrangement? Or should I be scouting around for a self service laundrymat in the Baltimore inner harbor area?

Thanks

A wonderful ship does indeed cruise the Great Lakes. Pearl Seas Cruises is the owner of the Pearl Mist. We did it last year....great trip.

Jim

When disembarking the Queen in Alton, how much travel time should I allow to reach the St Louis airport. Anyone with experience using the boat's transfer coach vs taxi/private car?

Thanks

Jim L

We did this route last year. Yes, it is a long ride, but an interesting one because of the landscape. Time passed very quickly. Our coach did have a bathroom, but it was a leased add on coach, not one of the AE HOHO coaches. It is much better to take this ride before the cruise, rather than after it, IMHO.

....for the comments. Sounds to me like, with the added competition next year, it might be better to wait on the discounted cruises, but be prepared to pay in full at booking.

JL

AQ is offering some really good 50% sale fares right now, for cruises that are under the 90 day final payment date. I wonder, is it better to wait or book early? I know that booking early gets you the better cabin selection vs maybe no availability at all. Having said that, AQ does seem to be offering 50% fares on a lot of their cruises. Just wondering.....are they sailing full....half empty?

JL

When I saw, as you did, that Shallowford Road was on a highway, not a river, I called and the CSR went off line while she checked to verify that it was the hotel address and that the docking address is Ross. Don't know why they would do that, as many pax, like me, need to know the physical location for pickup at debark.

Jim

They still show Ross Landing, but as you say, it will be controlled by the elements. I think Shallowford Rd is the motel address. The 1040am flight is close to sold out and I'll bet that 99% of the pax on that flight are from AQ. I'm retired and don't have anywhere to go the next day, so I think I'll gamble on Ross. Thanks for your insight.

Jim

Schedule says the boat docks in Chattanooga at 0800. If I have a car waiting, can I make a 1040 flight departure. I know the airport is relatively small, but I do not know the distance/travel time early on a Saturday morning. Any others with first hand experience, please jump in.

Thanks

Jim

Saint Simons Island, Ga

Calliope, please tell me about the "chart room". Other than what the name implies, is it an enclosed area with chairs, suitable for viewing the river...head on? Thanks

Jim

That is info neither my TA or the AQ CSR mentioned!

Jim

On the Queen brochure deck plan, there appears to be two doors for the Cat A rooms on the port side only,one opens to the veranda, the other opens to a large unmarked area on deck 5. Am I seeing this correctly? If so, where does the inside door lead, and can the elevator be accessed from there without going outside?

Thanks

Jim

I can't say because we overnighted in Portland, so our transfer was from a downtown hotel to the airport, which took about 30 minutes via cab.

How about starting a new thread on this repair issue, so maybe AQSC will jump in with some facts? As you seem to be more informed about the mechanical aspects, you could start off with a brief summary of what we have read/heard/seen to date.

Thanks

I do wish the company would post something here in the way of information about the broken shaft. I can understand their reluctance to advertise the negative, but all this speculation could be doing them more harm than the real facts.

Jim L

Keysman, see my post on June 1 "Just Returned from the Empress - impression".

jimlssi

We were on your Ireland, Scotland cruise last year and did not experience rough seas in the area you are worried about. You are not really that far into the North Sea, and stay fairly close to land. Having said this, it is still the ocean and not predictable. Lower and midships is always a safe bet if you are really worried. We experienced very little motion and were on deck 3.

We just returned from the American Empress. We experienced no restrictions about bringing wine on board, and in fact took a bottle into the dining room a couple of times. No restrictions there either, and no corkage fee. After all, we saved them money by not drinking the "included" wine at dinner. Of course, we did not buy from the "premium" wine list either.

The guest invoice just arrived via email from my TA. I'm happy to report that common sense prevailed somewhere! The 100 pp "administrative fee" is nowhere to be seen on the invoice. The full 400 pp savings credit is shown, thank goodness. Must have a been a CSR who was not quite up to speed.

Jim L

On June 8, I placed a deposit on the Oct 24 Nashville-Chattanooga cruise for a Cat B. On June 12, AQSC announced an $800 savings for booking this cruise. Yes, I read the fine print about this offer not applying to previous bookings etc, BUT, bear in mind that the final payment date was not until July 27. I had my TA call today, June 13, with this request: reduce my current fare by 800, or give me a one cat upgarde, or cancel and refund my deposit. The company elected to apply the promo adjustment to my existing reservation. Now comes the catch 22! They said this will cost me a 100 pp "administrative fee", thereby reducing the adjustment to 600. THAT is what I call a cheap shot. In my 20 plus years of salt water cruising on six different lines, I have never encountered this, the cruise line always honored the price adjustment if it was before final payment date, without penalizing me with an administrative fee. I suggest that anyone considering an AQSC booking wait as late as possible to do it, if cabin selection is not critical. I took the Empress this spring and had a great experience, but this "cheap shot" sure lessens my enthusiasm for AQSC. I hope someone in management is reading this.

James Langston

Saint Simons Island Ga

One more thing did come to mind. This boat is powered by diesel electric generators that drive the electric motors for the paddle and the two stern z-drives. If your cabin is towards the stern of the boat,I would say half way from the elevator on to the stern, you are going to hear the constant rather loud hum of the generators. They never sleep! So if you are a light sleeper, better stay forward of the elevators.

Jim

St.Simons Island, Ga.

DW and I just returned from the westbound Empress. I will not write a detailed, day by day account as do some of our more eloquent posters. I'll just give you our general impressions and you can ask questions if you want to.

We arrived in Spokane and had prearranged with the cruise hotel Mirabeau, for shuttle transfer from the airport, 30 minutes, $30( per couple). They were prompt and courteous.

The Mirabeau is a large convention hotel, about 250 rooms, and staff was very courteous. We requested a room on the ground floor close to the lobby/dining and got it. Since we did not have a car we did not want to be stuck out on the back of the property. Luggage moved from the shuttle to our room quickly.

First surprise, dinner that night at the hotel dining room "MAX". It was fabulous, one of the best meals we have enjoyed anywhere. So, unless you crave a McDonalds, which is across the street and up one block, stick with the hotel.

Boat registration was quick and easy, about 15 minutes. You also received a boarding number card for the bus transfer the next day

Breakfast next morning (included) was buffet, set up just for Empress pax, and it was a little chaotic, given that most everyone descended on the room at the same time, but they never ran out of food and everyone was very jovial and excited about the trip.

The 3 HOHOs plus two more generic coaches picked up everyone on time according to your boarding card number. Next surprise: it takes 3 1/2 hours to drive from Spokane down to Lewiston where the boat is docked! Pleasant enough, but we were not prepared for the long ride. Grab something at McDonalds before you get on the bus. If you are on an eastbound voyage, be aware that you will have a 3 1/2 hour bus ride back to Spokane after you disembark the boat.

Arriving at the boat, we boarded quickly since all the registration and credit card stuff had been taken care of back at the hotel. We were handed our room key card, and....next surprise...the "upgrade fairy" struck. We had been moved from a cat C @ 180 sq ft to a cat B @ 225 sq ft, because "we could not accommodate your bedding request". All we asked for was a queen, but apparently they gave out in cat C, so we were bumped up.

Food, generally was good to very good (always a very subjective issue, so I will say no more). The Empress has open seating in the main dining room and we never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a table, but most of the time it was instant seating, then we preferred to dine about 7-730pm. No complaint about the service or attitude, all DR staff were on top of their game. And they will keep pouring that wine.

We dined twice in the Grill on the top deck. They ask that you limit visits to that number so that everyone has a chance to use it. Menu there does not change; lobster, lamb chops, steak, so twice was fine for us.

Cabin was clean and neat, as was the entire boat. I did see a few signs of rust beginning to creep in, but you are on the water and that happens. They have a crewman who does nothing all day every day but go around touching up with white paint. I will admit to having some concerns about how the boat would look after being in storage for so long, but it looked really, really good, inside and out.

Excursions, both included and premium, were first class and reasonable priced. We are 30 cruise veterans on salt water small ships, so we have a base of comparison. Those HOHOs are a stroke of genius. We enjoyed that you could do both an included (free) excursion using the buses in the morning and also a premium tour in the afternoon if you wanted.

Entire staff was warm and accommodating, and always available, at least from our experience. I did understand that someone from "corporate Memphis" was on board, but do not know who.

We caught a couple of the shows and enjoyed them very much.

The only thing I really missed was not having a self serve washer/dryer on board, so we could pack lighter. But after seeing the boat, I don't know where they could put it, unless they took a small cabin out of service, and that is not a very sound financial idea.

At one port, another boat had registered for dock space before us (I was told), but no problem. The Captain just nosed the boat up to a field, dropped the bow ramp and off we went. Even the HOHOs found us.

We enjoyed seven beautiful days of perfect weather, only to disembark in the rain in Portland. I was not impressed with the port facility, as we appeared to be at a parking lot with a building next to it but the luggage was placed outside of the building, just under the

eve. In other words, no covered protection for getting off the boat and transferring your luggage.

This was our first experience on river paddle boating, and we enjoyed it. So much, that we are already planning on the Queen next year, probably upper Mississippi.

I'll try to answer your questions.

Jim

Saint Simons Island

Georgia